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Hebrews 1:2-4 God has Spoken in these Last Days

Hebrews 1:2-4God has Spoken in these Last DaysWC McCarter

Introduction

The entire letter to the Hebrews was written with one reason
in mind: to encourage Christians who were faltering in their faith. It is a
call to endure. Those Christians in the first century were facing brutal
persecution from the Jews and later even the Romans. The message they needed to
hear was that they had made the right choice by coming to Christ. We need to
hear the same message today. No, we have not faced the same persecution that
they did, but this world is alluring. It is easier to simply cruise along with
no strict belief in anything than to live out a biblically led life of faith in
Christ.

But listen, the truth of the matter is that God has spoken
in these last days by His Son. We do well to listen. If not, we are only
building up wrath for ourselves for the last day. The two main points of
today’s passage of Scripture are: first, God has finally and completely spoken
to us in His Son and second, by purging our sins He has sat down at the right
hand of the Majesty on High. Therefore, He has spoken and He sat down. Today,
we will embellish ourselves in these magnificent things.

READ Scripture- This
is the Word of God

Main Point 1: God has
spoken to us by His Son.

The first point is the main point, and it is something to be
excited about. It tells us who and what. It tells us three things. First, God
has spoken in these last days. Second, God has spoken by His Son.
Third, God has spoken by His Son to us. “. . . the one people of God has
always been established by the word of God” (Cockerill, 88).

Point 2: whom He has
appointed heir of all things

The Son has entered into the fruition of His Sonship as heir
of all things in His heavenly place. To be Son and Heir is to fulfill a role.
In that role, our Lord became flesh, was obedient on earth, offered Himself for
sins, and is now exalted. This is what it means to be the Son of God which is
why He is unique.

Point 3: through whom also He made the worlds

The One who is heir of all things is
the One who made all things. The word “worlds” can also mean “ages.” He is the
Creator of the ages. As Creator, He is sovereign.

Points
4 & 5: the brightness of His glory (2 Cor 4) and the express image of
His person

“Brightness” means “radiance.” This
is a great picture of how Christ is the full revelation of God. It is not a
reflected glory. He IS the glory of God. He is not like the moon which is a
mere reflection of the sun. He is the radiance of the sun. To be even more
exact, no one has ever actually seen the sun, but we have seen the radiant
beams of light which emanate from the sun. No one has ever seen God, but Christ
has made Him known. Christ has shown us God. When you see Him, you see God.
When you hear Him, you hear God. When you worship Him, you worship God. “Thus
the Son is a perfect ‘imprint’ of the ‘very being’ of God” (Cockerill, 94).
Together, these two phrases, “. . . preserve the distinctness of the Son while
affirming that the finality of his revelation is based on his identity with the
God he reveals” (Cockerill, 94).

Point
6: upholding all things by the word of His power

The One who is heir of all things is
the One who has created all things. He is the same One who sustains all things.
The wording actually tells us more than His sustaining work. He is the One who
directs the ages. He is orchestrating all things to bring them to their
intended purpose, God’s purpose. His ultimate purposes are to make purification
for sins and return to rule with His people in a restored and cleansed kingdom.
“Bearing all by His powerful word” is a phrase referring to deity.

Point
7: when He had by Himself purged our sins

“Purged” means “cleansed.” He
intends to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, to remove all of the pollution
of sin, and to remove the barrier between humanity and God.

Point
8: sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high

We must look to Christ for the full
revelation of the divine nature and the divine purposes. “Sitting down”
highlights the finality of his saving work. Being at the “right hand” is to be
in the place of authority and strength.

Points
9 & 10: having become so much better than the angels

He has by inheritance
obtained a more excellent name than they

We have
been told what the Son has eternally been. Now we are told what He became when
He sat down. Christ has always been far better than the angels, but “became”
much better in a new way when He sat down after completing the plan of
redemption.

Conclusion and
Application

As you already know, and as we can see in today’s passage of
Scripture, the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ is inexhaustible. We could
never come to the end of the discussion of His greatness.

No matter what you have been through or what you are going
through, Christ is enough. His grace is sufficient for you. He is our High
Priest who has gone before us, has experienced the things we have experienced,
and has mediated a new covenant between God and us. He is far superior to
anything this world has to offer. He is heir of all things; He created all
things; He sustains all things. He is the one and only radiance and express
image of God the Father. He has by Himself paid for our sins and thus cleanses
us. He has sat down at the right hand of the Father in glory. He is far greater
than the angels or any other created thing. He is far greater than people, far
greater than money, than careers, than sports, than . He is far greater than
your problems or circumstances.

In our times of difficulty and trial, we are, “. . . to
focus upon this Son exalted at God’s right hand and the benefits he provides”
(Cockerill, 88).

He is superior to all. There is no reason we should falter
in our faith, there is no reason we should not persevere until the end if we
have our eyes set on Him. He is truly the Author and Finisher of our faith and
all of our hopes. He is the beginning and end, the end all and be all.

If you have chosen Christ above all else, you have made the
right decision.